Safety railroad tie holder



June 3, 1958 Filed June 20, 1955 F. J. ROGOWSKI SAFETY RAILROAD TIEHOLDER 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR.

FRANK J; ROGOWSKI BY June 3, 1958 F. J. ROGOWSKI 2,837,313

SAFETY RAILROAD TIE HOLDER Filed June 20, 1955 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 "2JINVENTOR.

FRANK J. Rosowsm United States Patent SAFETY RAILROAD TIE HOLDER FrankJ. Rogowski, New York, N. Y.

Application June 20, 1955, Serial No. 516,712

1 Claim. (Cl. 254-121) This invention relates to railroad tie holders,and more particularly has reference to a holder so designed as to insurethat the tie will be engaged against accidental slippage, thus to notonly promote efiiciency in track laying, maintenance, and repairoperations being performed with the device, but also, and of equalimportance, to promote safety so far as the workers are concerned.

A conventional railroad tie holder includes an elongated handle, and ahead or fork rigid with one end thereof, formed to a U-shape so as toinclude a pair of transversely spaced legs, which are curvedlongitudinally to engage under the railroad tie while the bight portionof the head or fork straddles an associated rail against which the tieis to be held while being spiked, or tamped. The curved legs of the forkor head, in a conventional tie holder, taper at their free ends to apoint, to permit digging into tamping material to be carried out withmaximum facility. The pointed, free end portions of the fork legs, inthis connection, project'beyond the associated side surface of the tie,and when the tool is rocked upon the rail with the fork legs underlyingthe tie, the curved portions of said legs engage the underside of thetie along the opposite lower longitudinal edges of the tie inwardly fromthe pointed tips of the legs, so that the tie is forced upwardly intoengagement with the underside of the rail during the tamping or spikingoperation. 4

It has been found, during the use of a conventiona tool of the typereferred to, that the tie tends to" slip longitudinally of theassociated legs, often slipping completely out of engagement therewith.This may cause injury to adjacent workers, and further, the slippage ofthe tie obviously prevents the spiking or tamping operation from beingcarried out.

In view of the above, the main object of the present invention is toprovide, on each of the fork legs, adjacent the pointed tip thereof, anupwardly projecting, approxi-' mately triangular block, forming anabutment engaging against the adjacent side surface of the tie, whichabutment will positively prevent slippage of the tie off the fork legs,and will insure that the tie will be held against any movement relativeeither to the tool or to the rail, when the tool is rocked upon the railto force the tie against the rail.

A more specific object is to so form the block as to facilitate itsbeing welded with maximum means and facility to conventional tie holdingtools already in use.

Another important object is to form the block in such manner as to causeit, when the tool is rocked upon the rail, to assume a position in whichthe tie-engaging surface of the block will be, in effect, coplanar withthe tie surface abutting thereagainst, to increase the efficiency of theblock as an abutment or stop.

Yet another object is to form the block in such a manner as tofacilitate disengagement of the tool from the tie when the spiking ortamping operation has been completed.

Another object of importance is to so form and locate 2,837,313 PatentedJune 3, 1958 the block relative to the associated fork leg as to permitthe tool to be used in tamping operations without interference from theblock, the block being so shaped as to permit the tool to dig into thetamping material without inconvenience or difiiculty so far as theworker is concemed.

For further comprehension of the invention, and of the objects andadvantages thereof, reference will be had to the following descriptionand accompanying drawings, and to the appended claim in which thevarious novel features of the invention are more particularly set forth.

In the accompanying drawings forming a material part of this disclosure:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view showing, fragmentarily, a rail and tie witha holding tool in operative association therewith, said tool beingequipped with blocks formed in accordance with the present invention.

Fig. 2 is a side elevational view of the tool, rail, and tie, the toolbeing shown in full lines in its operative, tieholding position and indotted lines in the position assumed thereby when being engaged with ordisengaged from the tie.

Fig. 3 is an enlarged, fragmentary top plan view of one of the forklegs, showing the associated block in top plan.

Fig. 4 is an enlarged, fragmentary side elevational view of the fork legand block.

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary side elevational view of a modified form ofblock used on a different type of tie holder.

Fig. 6 is an enlarged transverse sectional view on line 66 of Fig. 5.

Fig. 7 is an enlarged, detail sectional view on line 7-7 of Fig. 5.

Designated at It) is an elongated handle, which can be formed of asingle length of solid or tubular bar stock. Thehandle, at one end, iswelded or otherwise rigidly fastened to a fork or tool head generallydesignated 12. The fork 12 is of a U-shape, having a bight 14 to themidlength portion of which the handle 10 is secured. Bight 14 isintegral at its ends with elongated fork legs 16, and said legs, asshown to particular advantage in Fig. 2, are curved longitudinally overtheir full lengths, to facilitate extension thereof under a tie T thatis to be forced upwardly into engagement with the underside of a rail R.

At their free ends, the legs 16 taper to provide thereon sharply pointedtips 18 that facilitate use of the tool for digging into tampingmaterial, not shown.

The blocks constituting the present invention have been generallydesignated at 20, and since both are identical, the description of onewill suflice for both of them.

Block 20, when seen in side elevation, is of approximately triangularshape, having a tie-engaging inner surface 22 which is substantiallyflat, and is disposed at an angle of approximately 45 to the length ofthe associated, free end portion of the fork leg 16. At its upper end,the inner surface 22 of the block merges into a rounded top surface 24,which in turn merges into an elongated, gently sloping, inwardly curvedouter face 26 of the block. Face 26, at its lower end, merges smoothlyinto the top surface of the pointed tip 18 asshown in Fig. 4.

The block is welded in position, on the top surface of the fork leg 16,as at 28, over the full periphery of the block, inwardly a shortdistance from the pointed tip 18. The side surfaces of the block, asshown in Fig. 3, taper in the direction of the tip 18, so as to be flushwith the corresponding tapering side surfaces of the fork leg. In someinstances, the fork leg may not be tapered at the location at which theblock is to be secured, and in this event, of course, the block wouldnot be tapered.

' In use, the tool, held in the dotted line position shown in Fig. 2, ispositioned in straddling relation .to jthexail R, with the free endportion of the tool being extended under the tie T. Then, the tool isrocked in "the direction of the arrow shown in :Fig. 2, to the full lineposition thereof, engaging the bight 14 against the ball of the rail toprovide a fulcrum about which'the tool may be rocked, to engage underthe tie and force the same upwardly against the rail during the spiking-ortamping operation.

When the tool 'is rocked to its full linepos'itionin Fig. 2, the surface22 will now be disposed in a vertical plane, substantially common tothat of the associated side surface of the tie. abutment in the path ofthe tie, should the tie tend'to slip longitudinally of the fork legs ortines 16,.th'atis, to the left in Figs. 1 and2.

The tie is engaged along-its lower longitudinal edges by the tines, asshown in Fig. 2, with the abutment'engaging against one-side surface ofthe tie,the other side surface being prevented from movement to theright in Fig. 2 by the pronounced curvature of the tines. The tie willbe held stationary, without possibility of slippage thereof relativeeither to the tool or to'th'e rail. The spiking and tamping operationmay thus be carried .out with maximum ease and facility, with completesafety so far as the workers are concerned and without possibility ofloss of time due to inability to hold thetie stationary.

In some instances, the tool may, as shown in Figs. 1-4, have tines ofsubstantially rectangular cross section. In other instances, said tinesas shown in Figs. 5 and 6, may be of circular cross section. In thisevent, the tines 16 are provided with blocks 20 having transverselyconcave undersides 30 mating with the upper surfaces of the tines,so-as-to seat firmlythereagainst, The blocks are welded at 28 in themanner previously described, and so far as the exposed surfaces 22*, 24and'ztieof the blocks are concerned, these are similar to the "firstform.

In the'form shown in Figs. 5-7, the tool has a fork or head 12 integralat the location of its bight portion 14 with an elongated, cylindricalsocket 32 formed with internal threads 34 engaging matching threads 36provided upon the inner end of a removable handle 10 formed from solidbar stock of circular cross section.

In both forms of the invention, the operation charac- It will thus standas an Lteristics are the same, and

in use of the tool, considerable time is saved in readjusting the tieand tie holder, "such "as is necessary when the tie slips out ofengagement with the holder.

While I have illustrated and described the preferred embodiments of myinvention, it is to be understood that I do not limit myself totheprecise constructions herein disclosed and that various changes andmodifications may be made within the scope of the invention as definedin the appended claim.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and .desire .tosecure by United States Letters Patentis:

A railroad tie holder comprising a handle, a fork thereon having a.bight:.connecte.d to the handle and a pair of longitudinally curvedtines extending from the bight, and blocks welded to the inner surfacesof the respective tines and constituting abutments engaging against anadjacent side surfaceof a tie when the same is engage'dalong its lowerlongitudinal edges with the curved tines, to hold the tie from slippagein one direction longitudinally of the tines, said tines at the endsthereof remote from the bight'terminating in pointed tips, the blocksbeing welded to the tines inwardly from the tips, said blocks havinginner surfaces lying .substantiallyin planes at 45 to the length of theassociated portions of the tines, said "latter inner surfacesconstituting the tie-engaging surfaces-of the blocks, the blockshaving-outer sur'facesgradually sloping toward thepointed tips, to mergesmoothly into the tine surfaces a short distance .iinwardly of saidtips, said blocks having side surfacesfiush with the opposite sides ofthe tine legs, and-"having rounded top surfaces merging into the innerand outer surfaces of the blocks,,said tines being approximatelytriangular in ,crosssection, said blocks being also approximatelyrectangular in cross section at any point between the opposite endsthereof.

Re'ferencesCited'in the'file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1580;418 Myers Apr. 13, 1897 11,445,263 Asper Feb. 13, 1923 32,210,602Scott Aug. 6, 1940 I FOREIGN PATENTS 121,719 Australia July 8, 1946

